1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a joint connector which is used to interconnect wire harnesses for an automobile and the like.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
For convenience of explanation a conventional joint connector will be described below by referring to FIGS. 15 to 22. FIG. 15 is an exploded longitudinal sectional view of a prior joint connector as seen before having a cover mounted thereon. FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the joint connector shown in FIG. 15, illustrating the connector on which the cover is mounted.
FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the joint connector shown in FIG. 15, illustrating the connector in which a female terminal is incompletely inserted into a connector housing. FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 17. FIG. 19 is a schematic fragmentary cross sectional view of a prior joint connector. FIG. 20 is a schematic perspective view of a prior joint connector. FIG. 21 is an exploded longitudinal sectional view of a prior joint connector. FIG. 22 is a side elevational view of the prior joint connector which joints electrical wires.
FIGS. 15 and 16 show an example of a conventional joint connector (Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 3-88278 (1991)). A female terminal 2 is accommodated in a terminal accommodating chamber 1a in a connector housing 1. The terminal accommodating chamber 1a is provided on its side walls (upper and lower walls) 1b with a resilient locking finger 1d having a projection 1c which engages with a lock aperture 2a in the female terminal 2.
A cover 4 having a male terminal 3 is mounted on the connector housing 1 so that the male terminal 3 is coupled to the female terminal 2 (FIG. 16).
The locking finger 1d of the connector housing 1 is provided on the same plane as an outer face of the side wall 1b in the housing 1. In the case that the female terminal 2 is incompletely received in the terminal accommodating chamber 1a as shown in FIG. 17. The projection 1c on the locking finger 1d rides on an outer face of the female terminal 2 so that the locking finger 1d projects from the outer face of the side wall 1b.
Consequently, when the cover 4 is mounted on the connector housing 1, a distal end of the locking finger 1d abuts on a stopper 4a of the cover 4, thereby preventing any further advance of the cover 4. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a connecting failure of the male terminal 3 resulting from an incomplete insertion of the female terminal 2.
On the other hand, in the case that the female terminal 2 is detached from the terminal accommodating chamber 1a in order to change an accommodating position of the female terminal 2, after the female terminal 2 has been accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 1a in the connector housing 1, the projection 1c must be drawn from the lock aperture 2a in the female terminal 2 by pushing the locking finger 1d outwardly.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 18, a plate like tool 5 is inserted between the distal end of the locking finger and an inner end 1e of the side wall 1b of the connector housing 1, which is opposed to the distal end of the finger 1d, the tool 5 is swung about a corner a of the inner end 1e as a fulcrum, and the tool 5 pushes up the locking finger 1d at an acting point b on the end of the finger 1d.
However, a gap between the distal end of the locking finger 1d and the inner end 1e is so narrow that the tool 5 hardly enters into the gap and a distance between the fulcrum a and the acting point b is so short that an excessive stress is concentrated on the locking finger 1d, thereby deforming the locking finger 1d.
There are some prior joint connectors which are suitable for wiring alternation in electrical equipment for an automobile, an OA device such as a copying device and the like, and an industrial device. In particular, it is necessary to prevent a short-circuit from occurring between branched circuits due to leaking in such joint connectors.
Such joint connectors are shown in FIGS. 19 and 20.
In the joint connector, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 1a are formed in the connector housing 1 by partitions 1f. A female terminal 2 is accommodated in the chamber 1a and shorting plates 3A and 3B are inserted into the connector housing 1. Each of the shorting plates 3A and 3B has a coupling portion 3a and a plurality of contacting portions 3b integrally connected to the coupling portion 3a. The contacting portions contact with the female terminal 2 to form a branched circuit.
The connector housing 1 is integrally provided with a lid 7, which serves to prevent the shorting plates 3A and 3B from sliding out of the connector housing 1 when the housing 1 is closed by the lid 7.
In the joint connector, each of the shorting plates 3A and 3B is provided with a recess 3C. The lid 7 is provided with protrusions 7a corresponding to the recesses 3C. When the lid 7 closes the housing 1, the protrusions 7a engage with the recesses 3C to hold the shorting plates 3A and 3B in regular positions, thereby preventing the shorting plates 3A and 3B from loosening in the connector housing 1 and from shorting two branched circuits due to contact of the adjacent shorting plates 3A and 3B. Such a joint connector is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Public Disclosure No. 64-55591 (1989).
However, in the above joint connector, a gap 8 between the adjacent shorting plates 3A and 3B is insulated only by air. Thus, in the case that potentials in the branched circuits formed by the respective shorting plates 3A and 3B are different or in the case that moisture or dust exists in the gap 8, leaking will occur between the shorting plates 3A and 3B at the gap 8, thereby shorting the branched circuits formed by the shorting plates 3A and 3B.
It is desirable to make the partition as thin as possible in order to make the joint connector compact and light in the case of using it in an automobile, an OA device, or the like. However, if the partition 1f becomes thin, a pitch between the female terminals 2 will become narrow and the gap 8 will become so small that a distance of air insulation is short, thereby readily causing leaking.
FIG. 21 shows a conventional joint connector which accommodates electrical wires an end of which is connected to a terminal and interconnects given terminals.
In FIG. 21, a female connector housing 1 accommodates a plurality of electrical wires 9 which are directed to the same sense and have a female terminal 2 at one end. A male connector housing 4A is formed into a box like shape having at an end an opening which is adapted to receive an end of the female connector housing 1. The male connector housing 4A is provided at a bottom wall with a shorting plate 3C which extends inwardly and is directed to the positions of the female terminals in the female connector housing 1. The shorting plate 3C is formed into a U-shape and provided with two distal ends which have the same shape as that of the male terminals. A cover 6 is provided to be mounted on an outer periphery of the male connector housing 4A from its rear side. In order to prevent the cover 6 from falling off the male connector housing 4A, the cover 6 is provided with an aperture 6a while the male connector housing 4A is provided with a projection 4a.
In the above construction, an integrated shorting plate 3C is formed in accordance with female terminals to be connected with each other. The shorting plate 3C is inserted into the male connector housing 4A from its rear side. The cover 6 is put on the housing 4A. Thereafter, the female connector housing 1 is inserted into the male connector housing 4A through its opening so that the shorting plate 3C advances in the female terminal 2. Eventually, desired female terminals 2 are electrically interconnected through the shorting plate 3C.
However, in the case that the electrical wires 9 to be connected with each other are drawn from different two places, as shown in FIG. 22, the wires 9 are bent at their end and thus the joint connector is arranged in perpendicular to the electrical wires 9.
In the above conventional joint connector, since the shorting plate is inserted into the female terminal, the female terminals must be arranged to close their openings and to direct them in the same sense. Consequently, if the electrical wires 9 to be interconnected are collected from different places, the joint connector projects on wiring parts, thereby obstructing another wirings.
Further, an example of a joint connector which interconnects a plurality of electrical wires is disclosed in Japanese Patent Public Disclosure No. 61-277180 (1986).
In the joint connector, a plurality of same terminal accommodating chambers in a connector housing receive an end portion of an electrical wire having a female terminal at an end and a plurality of male terminals to be inserted in the female terminals are provided on the terminal accommodating chambers. The male terminals are coupled to each other in connection with the female terminals to be connected to each other.
When the female connector housing is inserted into the male connector housing after the female terminal is connected to an end of the electrical wire to be connected to another wire and the female terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber in the female connector housing, the male terminals which are interconnected in the male connector housing enter into the given female terminals, so that a plurality of female terminals are electrically interconnected through the male terminals.
This joint connector is also utilized to branch electrical wires connected to an electrical power source to electrical wires for electrical power sources in a plurality of electrical devices. The electrical wires connected to the electrical power source require a diameter large enough to supply currents to each electrical devices in comparison with branched wires. However, in the prior joint connector, since each size of the terminal accommodating chambers for receiving the electrical wires is same, the electrical wires having a large diameter can not be inserted into the chambers even if they are desired to be used.